Strengthening digital accessibility is a powerful tool for advancing inclusion.
Image credit: VectorMine/iStockphoto
Any organization committed to inclusion understands the critical role of accessibility. It’s non-negotiable. But when the new administration took office in January, it removed ASL interpreters, archived two important Office of Management and Budget directives, and even removed the White House web page on accessibility. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and others have been speaking out against these harmful measures, from executive orders that stop or reverse progress, changes at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, cuts to Medicaid, and measures that weaken disability rights and protections.
While powerful people continue to create barriers that deny opportunity based on disability, race, income, gender and other factors, those of us striving for equity can and must remove them. Digital accessibility is one powerful way to do that. It helps ensure everyone can access healthcare, housing, education, and employment. It's how we pave the way to a future where health is not a privilege for some, but a right for us all.
I know a lot about this. As I began losing my sight to retinitis pigmentosa in college, I struggled to find accessible textbooks and course materials. Later, while navigating my career with vision loss, I encountered new obstacles like missing out on career opportunities since some online applications just weren’t compatible with my assistive technology. I wondered: If I was facing these barriers despite my education, experience, and privilege, what about others? That question drove me to co-found Ablr, which helps organizations eliminate the digital divide and embed accessibility into their efforts. This is critical in today’s age, because if we don’t make digital content accessible, we are locking out millions of people from education, employment, healthcare, housing—all aspects of life.
Committing to inclusion through accessibility
Accessibility doesn’t only help people with disabilities; it helps everyone. For instance, dictation software is a powerful tool for blind users who prefer voice input. But it’s also beneficial for a busy professional who wants to draft emails or take notes hands-free while on the go. Digital accessibility even improves health privacy with secure, saved passwords that make it easier for people with disabilities to access medical notes or fill prescriptions.
Plain language written at an 8th-grade reading level helps reach audiences with diverse educational and cognitive abilities and makes information easier to understand for everyone. RWJF grantee New Disabled South is putting this into practice. Its Plain Language Policy Dashboard makes pending legislation in Southern states easier to understand. It empowers civic participation particularly for the 61 million Americans living with disabilities.
RWJF Vice President of Communications Allyn Brooks-LaSure champions this clarity in an entertaining video, urging us all to simply “make it plain.”
A Digital Accessibility Checklist
The purpose of a website is to share information and help people interact with your organization. A website is not serving its purpose if they can’t do both of those things. The following checklist offers guidance on how to avoid the most common issues that make it harder to access and engage with digital information.
Enhance Readability
- Use high-contrast colors to make text stand out from the background.
- Use an easy-to-read font type that is 11 to 12 pt (15 to 16px).
- Avoid styles like all caps, italics, or justified paragraphs which are harder to read.
- Organize pages with clear headings for main topics on the page.
- Use lists to break up large chunks of content.
- Write in plain English at an 8th grade reading level.
- Provide a descriptive title for each page.
- Define the language of each page.
- Create links that specifically describe what will happen if the person clicks that link, like “Download full report” or “Read more about RWJF grants”; instead of vague links that say “click here” or “read more.”
Inclusive Visual Content
- Provide alternative descriptions for essential images and video content (visual content).
- Focus on the purpose or essential content when creating alternative descriptions; do not over-describe.
- Provide empty alternative text (alt=””) for images that are decorative, which alerts assistive technologies that this can be ignored because it is not essential content. Unnecessarily labeling decorative images creates a cluttered experience.
- Use animated images or auto-playing videos sparingly and provide options to play/pause or disable controls.
- Caption all videos with proof-read and edited text.
- Provide audio descriptions or transcripts for videos with visual information (introduce speakers, text on screen, scene information, etc.).
Optimized Keyboard Usability
- Ensure you can press the tab key on the keyboard to reach every active element (links, buttons, UI controls).
- Check when you are tabbing through the page that you can always see what element is in focus (focus indicator).
- Provide ways for users to skip repetitive elements (e.g. menus, filter sidebars).
- Test forms to ensure users can complete them with the keyboard only.
Taking these steps is a strong start to making your website accessible.
A Continuing Journey
To fully commit to equity and inclusion, it’s important to understand that digital accessibility is never a one-and-done process. Organizations must fully integrate accessibility commitments and evolve with new needs and new technologies.
For example, AI is rapidly transforming how we create and consume content. It’s essential to ensure that even AI-generated materials are accessible to everyone. Whether using AI to draft emails, generate images, or automate captions, content creators must apply accessibility best practices to ensure people with disabilities aren’t left behind.
To dig deeper, consider having your website tested for accessibility or training with a certified accessibility company.
Explore my personal journey and mission to break down barriers so people with disabilities have a fair and just opportunity to thrive.
About the Author
John Samuel, co-founder and CEO of Ablr, manages a dedicated team that helps organizations enhance inclusivity by making digital content accessible to people of all abilities.